aya hirano @ KL

in moe kebaya mode~ (^_^)

aya hirano spotted in kuala lumpur!!! well, not by me though~ only realised about this when i was browsing hashihime this early wee morning~ from the pictures posted there, most likely she's somewhere around central kl, maybe pavilion area - couldn't tell much, but if that's true it'll be like a "so close yet so far" experience for me, who is working like 10 minutes walking distance from that area~

will be counting down to the new year @work, and hoping meeting aya in person ( ﾟ▽ﾟ)

check: http://hashihime.blogspot.com

merry belated xmas

get the 1024*768 version
*picture grabbed from moe.imouto.org

got major burn-out effect after posting the tediously long post about the movies watched this year... i deserved it, i really do... that should really teach me a lesson to post regularly instead~ i'll be a real good boy next year! (ノ--)ノ

anyway, as things took its own course i fell sick right before christmas (talk about the timing)...sore throat and feverish, lasted til today when i started coughing as well~ tough luck, hell yeah! (ι´Д｀) hope to get well soon though, the new year is coming - wanna start the new year with something good~

@work, things were much better and (defintely less busy), luving the holiday season to the max...

...and to everyone again, "merry belated xmas!" (cough, cough)

movies i've watch in 2009

ready for some movie reviews?

what? seriously? yup, finally realised that i've been very movie-lazy this year; last reviewed tranformers in early march, and then that was it until now~ last minute reviews ain't gonna make santa give me any presents for xmas, but it's fine with me :P

from what the title says, this is gonna be a long post... will keep the reviews as brief as possible~ since i couldn't fairly make up the order of the movies i've watched anyway, here the bunch the movie titles:

Koi Suru Madori [personal rating: 1/5]
japanese title: 恋するマドリ
check: http://www.crunchyroll.com


title screen


aragaki yui as yui


ryuhei matsuda as the neighbour upstairs

story: about a design student moving in to a new apartment and befriends her upstairs neighbour/co-worker whom she later falls for~
* a very unremarkable love story and boring all the way til the end... funny i've maanged to survive to the credits roll~

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Happiness of the Katakuris [personal rating: 2/5]
japanese title: カタクリ家の幸福
check: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/


drama and suspense... or plain overacting


some claymation effect

story: a musical play about a family setting up a inn only to discover all their visitors ends up dying...
* wacky, weird and sometimes plain right disgusting to watch, takashi miike style... storyline is kept simple but the songs and overacting are are to watch for

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Kisaragi [personal rating: 4/5]
japanese title: キサラギ
check: http://www.crunchyroll.com


title screen


meet miki kisaragi


in search of the truth behind the death of miki


ichigo_musume

story: miki kisaragi, a c-list idol passed away in a fire incident at her apartment a year ago, the case was classified as suicide... today, a memorial party held by 5 fans for the idol will finally uncover the actual cause of miki's death, or will it?
* the movie started a little slow but soon caught up with a cleverly scripted storyline, making it interesting up til the very end of the movie... the characters and plot are hillarious and surprising also~

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Tokyo Friends - movie [personal rating: 3/5]
japanese title: 東京フレンズ
check: http://www.crunchyroll.com


title screen


4 friends, otsuka ai second from left


ryuji (eita) & rei (otsuka ai)

story: a continuation from the drama series which ryuji left for the states... rei, embarks a journey to new york in search of her love, in spite having to leave her friends and band in tokyo~
* was this before catching the series on national tv, wasn't too much into the sotry, but wasn't hard to catch up with the simplistic story line either... deserves a 2, but add another point for the songs in the movie...

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Shrek 3 [personal rating: 2/5]
check: http://www.imdb.com


title screen


shrek babies

story: the death of his royal highness led shrek in search of a replacement or be the replacement... hating to be king, shreks sets across the sea to artie (king arthur) to be the next ruler of far, far away... meanwhile, the abandoned prince charming leads the rebelious meanies to seize the castle while shrek's away
* didn't enjoyed this as much as the previous 2 installments... there are funny moments but it's more towards a disney kinda cartoon now

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Rainbow Song [personal rating: 3/5]
japanese title: 虹の女神,
check: http://en.wikipedia.org/


title screen


ueno juri as aoi sato


a day at the summer festival

story: upons hearing on the death of his close friend, tomoyo rekindles with the past when they metg at a record store, shooting a short film to saying their last goodbyes... though they loved each other, sadly none had the courage to confess until it's too late
* the storyline is pretty simple about two individuals not realising their own feelings... the flow of the movie is kinda mellow, sometimes a little boring

-x-x-x-x-

Hatsukoi [personal rating: 3/5]
japanese title: 初恋
check: http://www.hatsu-koi.jp/


title screen


aoi miyazaki learning to ride


keisuke koide and aoi as kishi and misuzu


the grand heist

story: "300 million yen robbery", dubbed the biggest heist in Japanese history as penned by fictional novelist, nakahara misuzu with herself being center of the robbery ... the movie goes through the life of misuzu and her bunch of misfit friends along with the birth of the ingenious plan
* moderate paced movie, character deveopment of misuzu was quite the highlight of the movie... mind the robbery though, seems easy enough for anyone to pull that stunt

-x-x-x-x-

Paprika [personal rating: 4/5]
japanese title: パプリカ,
check: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/


title screen


paprika, heroine of the dream world


when wacky dreams comes to life

story: where entering one's dream is now possible, the dream penetrating device "dc mini" has been illegally stolen in an attempt to create nightmare in the real world.. it's up to a team of scientists, a detective and a fictional character of the dream world, paprika to save the day.
* the look and feel is very similiar with an anime i once saw, "paranoia agent", this however is a full fledge film... art is brilliant and storyline is kinda twisted, good enough for some thrills and suspense

-x-x-x-x-

Tekkon Kinkreet [personal rating: 4/5]
japanese title: 鉄コン筋クリート
check: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/


title screen


kuro and shiro (vice over by yu aoi)


a glimpse at "treasure town"


the dark side of kuro unveils

story: shiro and kuro are two orphans with semi-super human abilities, living their lives prawling the streets of treasure town~ as different as these two may be, they cared deeply for their town and most of all their one another... things took for a drastic change when a new yakuza head enters treasure town in search of power and fortune
* a simple yet powerful storyline and the dark and good side that one posseses... normally i wouldn't like anything from 4°c but this is one big exception...

-x-x-x-x-

The Taste of Tea [personal rating: 2/5]
japanese title: 茶の味
check: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/


title screen


members of the haruno family


sachiko and giant sachiko

story: tells the misadventures of the haruno family... every now and then, odd events and wild imaginations comes in contact with their plain yet fulfilling lives
* a cult-type of movie, with some zany story telling... starring anna tsuchiya during her youngers years...

-x-x-x-x-

Koizora [personal rating: 2/5]
japanese title: 恋空
check: http://koizora-movie.jp/


title screen


aragaki yui as mika


hiro, he'll learn the side effects of bleaching his hair too much


the bed scene

story: based on a mobile phone novel, this movie tells the hardship and romance of mika and hiro... said to be based on a true story, it's not short of a drama with love, rape, pregnancy, miscarriage, parting and reunion all comes into play
* this ain't so bad... i agree that the love story isn't believable to start with, however i've seen worse and this jz tries too hard to make the audience crack a tear

-x-x-x-x-

Do Not Laugh At My Romance [personal rating: 2/5]
japanese title: 人のセックスを笑うな
check: http://www.variety.com/


title screen


yuu aoi in a deep sleep


nagasaku hiromi and shirtless kenichi matsuyama

story: story about a student falling for lecturer/teacher 20years older than himself, much to the despair of his friend who had a crush on him
* managed to watch the full movie without subtitles... not much of talking, so it's fine... overall, it's kinda boring actually - thankfully, yuu aoi presence made it a little more bearable

-x-x-x-x-

Say Hello for Me [personal rating: 2/5]
japanese title: そのときは彼によろしく
check: http://asianmediawiki.com/


title screen


childhood friends


masami nagasawa as suzune morikawa / karin takigawa


say "good-bye"?

story: based on a novel, childhood friends- satoshi and karin reunites after 15 years to rekindle a lost relationship from before... however, it was a reunion that wouldn't last as karin has a illness that will soon set in; an illness of never getting up from a deep sleep
* wasn't too convincing as a love story and i've never like happy endings for such stories... casts' acting weren't too bad though~

-x-x-x-x-

Tokyo Tower, Mom and Me and Sometimes Dad [personal rating: 3/5]
japanese title: 東京タワー　オカンとボクと、時々、オトン
check: http://asianmediawiki.com/


title screen


odagiri joe as masaya


stroll downtown with mom


bedside by the tokyo tower

story: a heart warming tale about masaya, a reknown artist and jack-of-all-trades trying to reciprocate his mother's love which helped him overcame the darkest time of his life
* quite a good watch, family drama-type of movie with some motivational insights

-x-x-x-x-

The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief [personal rating: 3/5]
check: http://www.thegreathappinessspace.com/


title screen


a billboard of host to choose from


some clubbing dance moves...


drink! drink! drink! drink! yessss!

a documentary actually- about hosts from a club in osaka japan..it potrays how the guys dressed themselves and flirts with passersby to earn loads of cash night after night... revealed in the documentary are the clients and their side of the story as well...
* this was made very differently compared to the ones you'd expect in national geographic or discovery channel, isn't much of an epic, it somehow still caters the truth behind operating a host club

-x-x-x-x-

Touch [personal rating: 4/5]
japanese title: タッチ
check: http://asianmediawiki.com/


title screen


three friends; minami and the uesugi twins


the fatal accident




story: a pair of twins falls for their childhood friend minami whom, they shared a common interest through baseball~ as things were looking fine, one of the the twin dies in an tragic accident leaving behind only his brother to fulfill the promise to take minami through the ultimate baseball championship at koshien
*this is much better compared to rough, yet another sports manga also by issin inudo featuring masami nagasawa as well...

-x-x-x-x-

phew~~~~~~! that was a long post... it's now time to rest and sleep ~will do proof reading sometime later, hopefully! (´～`)